Teen risk-taking ‘evolutionary’

Next time your teenager does something that terrifies you, it might be because risk taking is written in their genes.

American child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr Jess Shatkin, in Christchurch as part of a New Zealand lecture tour to share his research, says risktaking gave our ancient ancestors an evolutionary advantage – enabling them to find food, other tribes and new sexual partners.

Teenagers were the top candidates for the task.

‘‘The person you want to send is the one who is the most resilient; the strongest, whose immune response is the best, who will heal from a wound faster than everyone else; can handle temperature and pain extremes better than anyone else,’’ he said.

‘‘That is adolescents – they are stronger, faster, more fit than they were as children and will be as adults. We have been built both anatomically and neurochemically to take risks as adolescents.’’

Shatkin is founder and director of one of the United States’ largest training programmes in psychiatry at the New York University school of medicine. His book, Born To Be Wild: Why Teens Take Risks, and How We Can Keep Them Safe, is the culmination of two decades of research and clinical practice.

Common belief had been that young people took risks because they thought they were invincible but that was not the reality.

‘‘Research shows that kids think they are more likely to get hurt than adults do,’’ Shatkin said. ‘‘You might ask a 15-yearold: what is the risk you will die

Dr Jess Shatkin

this year; and they will report rates higher than what is real.

‘‘They don’t think they are invincible.’’ The body released ‘‘chemical rewards’’ to encourage risky behaviour. ‘‘That is why these things feel good ... there are all sorts of things – dopamine, testosterone and oxytocin.

‘‘They are higher in the adolescent than at any other time in life, so that we are driven to take risks to help our species survive.’’

Shatkin, who was invited to New Zealand by Christ’s College principal Garth Wynne, presented two sessions at the Christchurch school – one for counsellors and one for parents.

Teens were also pre-programmed to be heavily influenced by their peers, including what they now see on social media. ‘‘When they are showing off to a friend, it is part of their necessary evolution that they get noticed. If they do not get noticed they are not going to get the fittest mate. In 2020, it makes a lot less sense. Evolution moves much more slowly than society.’’

Teenagers’ screen-time should be limited to reduce their fear of missing out, he said. ‘‘Being left out feels really bad.’’

His advice to parents or teachers is to have empathy for teenagers, to not take their behaviour personally and to allow them to take safe risks.

‘‘I think kids need to engage in some risky behaviour. They want that experience and you only learn by experience; if you don’t let them try then they don’t learn.

‘‘Without risks we would not have sent people to the Moon, we would not have figured out what the coronavirus is.’’

‘‘We have been built both anatomically and neurochemically to take risks as adolescents.’’

OCCUPATIONAL HAZARD

Kahu and Makaia Day-Brown face risk more often than most.

At 16, Kahu is the youngest professional scooter rider in New Zealand and has qualified for the Australasian championships in Melbourne in May.

He said that although he thought about risk, he did not let it get in the way of performing stunts and flips. ‘‘The biggest risk I have taken was at a competition in January. ‘‘I did a trick that if I landed wrong could cost me my ankle but I knew I had to do it to get a podium finish.’’

Makaia, 13, is among the top scooter riders in his age group, having won the 14 and under category in Timaru in January.

He said although he sometimes got scared, he weighed up the risk of dangerous tricks.

‘‘If it is a flip and you are going upside down, it can be scary but it only takes one second,’’ he said.

‘‘My friends do things like scooting, skateboarding and action sports. We all take risks.’’